Reinforced honeycomb concrete substrate

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the disclosure are directed towards a method to reduce the weight of any given concrete product or project by insertion during the pour, while increasing the strength of the product or project. 
     Consisting of a composite hybrid block of vertical grain torsion box grid filled with rigid foam, which is glued into place, the Reinforced Honeycomb Concrete Substrate is inserted in sections, and allowed to remain during cure time and thereafter. 
     Besides displacement of heavy cement or concrete, Reinforced Honeycomb Concrete Substrate is also insulated for sound deadening and climate control, and acts as a vibration and shock absorber, greatly enhancing sustainability, while reducing the tendency to crack or otherwise fail. 
     The Reinforced Honeycomb Concrete Substrate may be precast or cast on site and may be used for a wide variety of sizes of product and projects, in anything from art to heavy construction.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. Section 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 63/038,029, filed Jun. 11, 2020 entitled “Reinforced Honeycomb Concrete Substrate,” the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

The Reinforced Honeycomb Concrete Substrate is a lightweight superior strength method of offering lightweight structural support to concrete for projects of all sizes, from building concrete furniture, or concrete statuary molds, to highways, bridges, and multi-story building foundations. Not limited to increased structure strength Reinforced Honeycomb Concrete Substrate adds superior insulation and acts as an internal floating shock absorber which increases sound deadening capabilities and reduces vibration from traffic or earthquake, which could cause unreinforced concrete to weaken, crack, uncouple, or break apart. Standard cast on site or precast panel, wall, or slab configuration would include first pouring a layer of concrete, then placing Reinforced Honeycomb Concrete Substrate sections atop wet base layer of concrete, leaving open space between each section of Reinforced Honeycomb Concrete Substrate, followed by the final top pouring of concrete which is smoothed and allowed to fill in the gaps between the Reinforced Honeycomb Concrete Substrate sections, and allowed to cure.

Differing types of rigid foam may be used inside the Reinforced Honeycomb Concrete Substrate to attain different specifications and results. EPS is the assumed type of foam used in the geometric shapes, but any rigid foam could be used, such as urethane foam. Urethane foam is not used in construction because it lacks the structural integrity, but combined with the honeycomb structure core, failure is not an option. The vertical grain structure grids supply empirical structure and shear strength which is multiplied exponentially by filling the voids with foam. Weight and cure time are greatly reduced, as the Reinforced Honeycomb Concrete Substrate inserts can take up the bulk of the concrete structure while weighing a fraction of the weight of plain concrete.

SUMMARY

Significantly enhancing engineering and construction industries, Reinforced Honeycomb Concrete Substrate significantly improves upon the concrete geofoam core concept of using plain EPS or XPS foam blocks as concrete substrate and can be scaled from small-sized projects such as statuary molds or used in creating anything from modest concrete furnishings to larger projects, such as roadway underlayment, shoring up bridge bases, or used to create lightweight high strength insulated foundations, floors, and walls in any structure from a small bunker to a large skyscraper.

The strength of the material is based upon its geometric structure fabricated of vertical grain natural wood fiber creating a grid. These metric grids are created in sections. Each section is a torsion box structure of squares or rectangles, where the voids are filled with nearly any type of rigid foam, such as EPS or urethane. The result is a composite solid hybrid block which can be sized up or down to fit inside any concrete form or structure.

Unique characteristics are added to the project by embedding any number of sections of blocks of Reinforced Honeycomb Concrete Substrate in freshly poured concrete or pouring over and around the composite hybrid substrate. The end product is lighter in weight, by displacing concrete using reinforced lightweight mass. This embedded material acts as a shock absorber which acts as a sound barrier, and can reduce the shock felt from unnatural origins, like transportation or war, or natural sources such as heavy wind or earthquake.

Other forms of foam may result in concrete failure due to compromises due to cracking, this tendency is greatly reduced as Reinforced Honeycomb Concrete Substrate features vibration absorption but is solid, like a rock with unsurpassed shear and compression strength. The built-in insulation properties of the foam inserts provide sound deadening capabilities and can also help prevent cold or heat from passing through the structure, as a temperature barrier.

As an example, the basic method of creating a precast panel, wall, or slab starts with pouring a 2-inch base layer of concrete in a form, as you would normally using concrete alone, then place 6-inch-deep sections or blocks of Reinforced Honeycomb Concrete Substrate on top of the 2-inch wet concrete base layer, being certain to leave at least a 1-inch gap between each section or block and another 2-inch gap around the perimeter. Then finish pouring over the top to fill-in all the vacant areas between the sections or blocks and filling the top 2-inches to create your 10-inch concrete slab. The resulting slab is a fraction of the weight of a previously solid slab with many times the strength which will cure in a fraction of the time.

Alternatively, a barrier can be laid upon the ground or other surface area, and no base layer of concrete need be laid. Sections of Reinforced Honeycomb Concrete Substrate can be placed directly on the surface area or barrier material, for use as roadway underlayment for example, with adequate spacing between segments, then concrete poured over and around to create sections of concrete parking, driveway, or roadways.

Adding to the flexibility of the Reinforced Honeycomb Concrete Substrate, the types of foams used in the creation of the substrate need not be limited to EPS or XPS, as in geoform core. Different kinds of rigid foam can be used to take advantage of their individual characteristics. Even structurally ineffective foam, like urethane for example, which offers a higher insulation value can be used because it is implanted inside the torsion box structure grid, so there is no loss of structure strength.

Reinforced Honeycomb Concrete Substrate inserts can account for more than 50 percent, up to 70% or more of the concrete bulk. The more reinforced substrate, the less the weight while significantly increasing structural integrity.

Reinforced Honeycomb Concrete Substrate can be used in precasting or onsite casting.

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The Reinforced Honeycomb Concrete Substrate is a lightweight system which is a significant improvement on prior art WO2017024286A1 Geofoam by Steven F. Bartlett (2017) which is focused on large bridge structures, whereas Reinforced Honeycomb Concrete Substrate is a lightweight embedment or underlayment which can be used from small concrete garden steppingstones and statuary molds to large building projects, like roadways and skyscrapers.

Reinforced Honeycomb Concrete Substrate has a significant impact in the arts, landscape, building and construction materials, by reducing the weight, construction, and cure time, not unlike geofoam, but increasing the structure strength of the resulting application exponentially.

In construction, Reinforced Honeycomb Concrete Substrate can be used in the making of lightweight high strength insulated foundations, floors, and walls in any structure from a small bunker to a large military installation, and can be formatted for modular and temporary use, such as retaining walls or temporary floors. In emergency response, pre-cast Reinforced Honeycomb Concrete Substrate components can be easily deployed by truck, unstacked and assembled on site when needed, then disassembled, restacked and returned to warehouse, awaiting the next emergency, thanks to being so lightweight and strong.

Heating systems can be added to the concrete structure by adding heating wire or steam pipe(s) to the concrete to create enough ambient heat to melt snow and ice.

The basis of the material is a composite hybrid structure of vertical grain torsion box structure grid with hollow spaces filled with rigid foam glued inside the hollow areas creating a solid composite block with a honeycomb-like structured matrix throughout. Size and thickness of these insert blocks may vary widely, depending on the size and specs of the project.

The foam inserts could be made of any type of rigid foam, such as EPS or XPs foam, or any other suitable type of rigid foam. Reinforced Honeycomb Concrete Substrate can be laid or stacked inside any sizeable concrete form to accommodate design or uneven terrain.

Any resulting form of concrete which features the embedment of Reinforced Honeycomb Concrete Substrate takes on noticeably enhanced characteristics, such as being much lighter in weight, many times stronger than concrete without this embedment, as well as increased insulation to reduce temperature transfer as well as the absorbing sounds and other vibrations, even severe vibrations, such as earthquake.

The enhanced shear compression strength of these embedded blocks which are solid composites, prevents the structure from failing over time due to slight shift, or severe movement which otherwise might cause the system to break down, crack, or otherwise be compromised.

Using Reinforced Honeycomb Concrete Substrate inside small street stones, like cobblestones, these can be molded of concrete and can go deep into the ground to prevent shearing out of place. Also, using these cobblestones allows for the water to passthrough the sand between neighboring cobble stones.

The process of using a static material inside a poured concrete project is a method of first pouring a foundation layer of concrete. For example, if you were to be making a 4 ft×8 ft×10-inch slab, you would pour 2 inches of concrete as your base layer. Then you would add sections of Reinforced Honeycomb Concrete Substrate which are 6 inches in depth on top of the base layer leaving a vacant 2-inch border around the perimeter and a 1-inch gap between each block of substrate. Then you would pour the remainder of the concrete over the substrate, filling in all the spaces left open with concrete and the final layer of 2-inches of concrete, and allow to cure. Cure time is reduced significantly due to there being far less concrete.

To increase embedment strength, substrate blocks could have one or more holes drilled, or one or more torsion box voids left vacant to allow concrete to flow through and tie in the block even more. If necessary, the concrete could be further reinforced with metal mesh, rebar, or fiberglass to add strength.

Adding to the flexibility of the Reinforced Honeycomb Concrete Substrate, the types of foams used in the creation of the substrate need not be limited to EPS or XPS, as in geoform core. Different kinds of rigid foam can be used to take advantage of their individual characteristics. Even structurally ineffective foam, like urethane for example, which offers a higher insulation value can be used because it is implanted inside the torsion box structure grid, so there is no loss of structure strength.

Reinforced Honeycomb Concrete Substrate inserts can account for more than 50 percent, up to 70% or more of the concrete bulk. The more reinforced substrate, the less the weight while significantly increasing structural integrity. The strongest area of the Reinforced Honeycomb Concrete Substrate is the center of the vertical grain wood, which makes it an excellent option for supporting weight and increasing shear strength, making it an excellent option for road paving.

Reinforced Honeycomb Concrete Substrate can be used in precasting or onsite casting.

While this disclosure is susceptible to various modifications and alternative constructions, certain illustrative embodiments are in the drawings and description of related art. It should be understood, however, there is no intention to limit the disclosure to the embodiments disclosed, but on the contrary, that the intention covers all modifications, alternative constructions, materials, combinations, and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the disclosure.

Components

Structure Block

The structure block used for embedding into concrete is manufactured of (1) veneer cut into strips to make the torsion box structure grid, where grain orientation is vertical, not horizontal. Rigid foam (2) such as expanded polystyrene (EPS), extruded polystyrene (XPS), polyurethane (PU), or other types of light-weight rigid material which could be used to fill the otherwise empty spaces. Veneer and foam is composited using adhesive, such as white glue, yellow glue, epoxy, polyurethane, or other form of glue, and laminated by cold pressing, or some other method which may become available in the future.

Concrete Form

Any type of concrete for which restricts and restrains the material into a particular form until curing time has lapsed. To include, but not limited to, statuary, ornamental, steppingstone, or other types of molds, wooden forms, insulated concrete forms, foam concrete forms, and concrete wall forms, to name a few.

Concrete

Concrete is the material which is poured into the form or mold which could consist of cement or concrete, or any variation of poured wet material which could be used to fill the area as necessary.

Structural Enhancements

Other materials to be used in production to add strength and stability per application specifications, such as metal mesh, wire grids, rebar, or fiberglass to add strength.

Production Area

A production area is necessary to provide enough space to accommodate the area needed to manufacture the item and time required to allow it to cure, unless the item is poured and cured in place on site. 

The claimed invention is:
 1. A lightweight concrete structure made of concrete covering six sides of reinforced honeycomb concrete substrate, which is flat on two horizontal sides with four vertical sides.
 2. The lightweight concrete structure of claim 1, consists of the reinforced honeycomb concrete substrate is reinforced with rigid insulated material inside structure grids such as patented Sing Core, without stress skins.
 3. The reinforced honeycomb concrete substrate of claim 2, comprising concrete poured on and around the top and sides of the substrate inserts; space between implants allow all six sides of the substrate to be covered by concrete.
 4. The lightweight concrete structure of claim 1, consists of a concrete slab manufactured in this manner could be used as pavement underlayment, or for use as an insulated concrete floor.
 5. The reinforced honeycomb concrete substrate of claim 2, comprising the horizontal surface area of the implants have a minimal degree of movement which accommodates the settling or movements of the earth; the minimal degree of movement acts as a shock absorber and will prevent cracking of concrete and uncoupling.
 6. The lightweight concrete structure of claim 3, consists of concrete slabs made with Reinforced Honeycomb Concrete Substrate can be used as floors, walls, roofs, as modular concrete slabs, and as concrete paving underlayment. 